Mike's Whistle
'''Mike's Whistle '''is the fourth episode of the first season of Small Railway Adventures. Plot One morning when he arrived, Duck's whistle was out of order. They had worked late the night before and his Driver and Fireman had used it to boil eggs for their supper. But something has gone wrong, and next morning, when he wanted to whistle, Duck found he could only make burpling noises. He was upset about it. "Never mind," said his Driver, "it must be a bit of that egg which broke. We'll clean it out presently when we've got time. Meanwhile, no one will mind." But Mike made rude remarks about it. "Shplee! Shplee!" mimicked Mike. "It's shocking! If engines can't whistle properly, they shouldn't try." "Then why do you?" asked Bert. "Why do I what?" "Try to whistle, of course." "Shut up! You're jealous." Mike was proud of his shrill whistle. "Mine's better than yours, anyway." "Listen, Mike," said Rex. "If I had a whistle like yours, d'you know what I'd do?" He paused impressively. "I'd lose it." "The idea!" spluttered Mike. "Whistles are important, let me tell you. Engines without whistles aren't proper engines at all." Mike went redder than ever with fury. His steam pressure went up suddenly, and his safety-valves blew off, "Whoooooosh!" "Hullo!" said his Driver. "As you're ready first, you'd better take the 'passenger'." "What! and leave my 'goods'?" "Yes, Bert can do that. We can't have you blowing off in here. Come on!" Mike backed down on the coaches "whooooooshing" angrily. When all was ready, he started with a rude jerk. "Come on! Come on! COME ON!" he puffed. "What's bitten him?" wondered his Driver. "He doesn't like coaches, but he's never been as bad as this." Mike whistled loudly at the last excuse. "They're all jealous, they're jealous," he muttered as he bucketed along. "I'll show 'em. I'll show 'em." "He's in a flaming temper about something," remarked his Driver. He was relieved when they reached the End Station safely. He looked Mike all over; but saw nothing wrong. He tried to soothe him, but Mike still sizzled crossly. "It beats me," he said at last. Then, soon after they had started back, he heard a thin persistent tinkle. "That's something loose on his boiler," he thought. "I'll tighten it at the next station." But he never got the chance. It was the cow's fault. She stood on the track busily cropping grass. She took no notice of the train. Mike stopped. He wasn't frightened. He had met her before. She only made him cross. He came slowly forward whooshing steam from his cylinders. "Shoooosh! Shoooosh!" The cow just flicked her tail and went on eating. Mike felt exasperated. He tried whistling. He wanted to say "Get out of my way you stupid animal!" but he didn't get far. His second "peep" turned into a tremendous "Whoooooosh!" and his whistle-cap shot up kike a rocket, and landed in a field. Driver and Guard started to look for it, but some passengers objected. "We can't waste time with whistles," they said. "We must catch our train." Mike was dismayed. "There are boards saying 'WHISTLE'," he protested. "I mustn't pass those without whistling. That's 'Orders'. Please find it." "Sorry," said the passengers. "We can't wait. We'll have to whistle for you; that's all." And so it was arranged. Whenever they saw a board, Guard, Driver, and passengers all whistled. They made more noise than Mike ever did, and thought it splendid fun. Mike mourned for his lost whistle. Mike hoped his Driver would give him a new whistle when they got home. He was disappointed. "I've no spare whistles," said the Small Controller sternly. "So you'll have to wait. It serves you right for being such a crosspatch." Mike worked in the quarries for the rest of the day. It was nearly dark when he reached the Shed. "What's that?" asked Bert, as Mike came in. "Shsh!" whispered Rex. "Take no notice. It's an Improper Engine." "Why Improper?" He looks all right to me." "It's got no whistle." "Oh dear!" said Bert. "How shocking! We don't approve of his sort, do we?" Characters *Mike *Bert *Rex *The Small Controller *Duck (non-speaking role) *Donald (cameo) Trivia *This episode is based off the story of the same name from "Small Railway Engines" by the Rev. W. Awdry. Category:Adventures on Rails Category:Small Railway Adventures Category:Episodes